October is the fallen leaf, but it is also
a wider horizon more clearly seen.
It is the distant hills once more in sight,
and the enduring constellations above them once again.
Hal Borland
Somehow, almost without my noticing it, we've edged into October. For many of us the summer holidays are already a distant memory, we’re back at work and life is rushing by at its usual relentless pace, allowing little time for reflection. The days are getting shorter and before we know it Christmas will be here and with it the end of the year.
This makes it an ideal time to do some planning for the last quarter of the year.
Some years ago I took part in a coaching Mastermind Group and I remember the facilitator of the group asking us this question at around this time of year: Looking forward to December, what do you need to do in the next three months to feel that you've reached the end of the year with a real sense of accomplishment?
It’s a clever question in that it makes you think yourself forward to the end of the year and to consider how it would feel — and what would be different — if you had that sense of accomplishment.
Here's another way to approach the same question:
Step One
Write down three goals that you feel would significantly improve your life — personally and/or professionally — in the next 90 days. Check in with yourself to make sure these are goals that genuinely invigorate and motivate you — not goals you feel you should do.
Step Two
Once you've decided on your goals, divide each one up into smaller action steps and give each one a start and a finish date. Don't forget to leave space for a tick box so that you can tick each step as you complete it — always motivating.
By doing this simple exercise you should end up with a focus and an action plan for the next three months, taking you into December with a satisfying feeling of accomplishment.
To understand the heart and mind of a person,
look not at what he has already achieved,
but at what he aspires to.
Kahlil Gibran
Many people fail in life,
not for lack of ability or brains or even courage
but simply because they have never organized
their energies around a goal.
Elbert Hubbard